According to Don Foreman :
But Fitch's experiments in tuning were for the purpose of making the lathe work *better*. The time it took to spin the spindle up, or to reverse it was shortened by the tuning -- especially if the lathe was set to a high gear or belt setting.
So -- if you need to reverse your lathe quickly -- such as when tapping with a releasing tap holder -- you will get better behavior from a tuned converter than from an un-tuned one.
Enjoy, DoN.